1966 Eighty-eighth Season 1967

UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY THE U N I V E R SIT Y OF M I CHI G A N

Charles A. Sink, President

Gail W. Rector, Executive Director Lester McCoy, Conductor

Fourth Program Twenty-first Annual Extra Series Complete Series 3551

Seventh program in the Sesquicentennial year oj The University oj Michigan

Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra STANISLAW SKROWACZEWSKI, Conductor

SUNDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 26, 1967, AT 2:30 HILL AUDITORIUM, ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN

PROGRAM

Overture to Euryanthe

Symphony No.3 in D major

Adagio maestoso; allegro con hrio Allegretto

Menuetto Presto vivace

Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra

WEBER

SCHUBERT

Ross LEE FINNEY

Soloists: ROBERT TWEEDY; ELLIOT FINE; MARVIN DAHLGREN; PHILIP BRUNELLE

INTERMISSION

Symphony No. 10 in E minor.

Moderato Allegro

Allegretto j largo; allegretto Andante j allegro

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

The Steinway is the official piano oj the University Musical Society

A R S LON G A V I T A BREVIS

PROGRAM NOTES

By MARY ANN J. FELDMAN

Overture to Euryanthe . CARL MARIA VON WEBER

At the premiere of Euryanthe in 1823, the overture was so badly played that its effectiveness was largely unappreciated, but posterity has awarded it a solid place in the orchestral repertory. Using materials from within the opera, Weber constructed a flowing symphonic movement. The beginning, Allegro marcato, con molto fuoco, is based on an aria from the first act in which the hero, Adolar, declares his trust in God. The contrasting strain of this sonata-form movement is the love theme from the second act, triumphantly restated at the close of the overture. Just prior to the development of this subject matter, Weber interposes a quiet largo episode for muted violins which in the opera is associated with a ghostly apparition. Thus, the overture is a symphonic prophesy of the drama to follow.

Symphony No.3 in D major FRANZ SCHUBERT

The Symphony No. 3 in D major was first played in London in 1881, though it had been written some sixty-six years earlier. It reflects Schubert's indebtedness to Haydn and Beethoven in the evolution of his symphonic style.

Adagio maestoso; allegro con brio. A broad introduction precedes the Allegro proper, designed in sonata form. The first strain is a light-hearted phrase, introduced by clarinet, that is scarcely a tune but simply a compound of barmony and a rhythmic figure, a motive happily suited to manipulation by woodwinds in the development. The oboe is assigned the second subject, a self-contained Liindler-Jike melody that is unmistakably Schubertian.

Allegretto. In place of a slow movement, Schubert created for this ingenuous sym­phony a graceful and disarming song that suggests chamber music in its delicate balance between winds and strings.

Men14etto. This exuberant minuet, rustic and far-removed from the courtly world, stomps rather than trips along, particularly because of the accent on the third beat of each measure, making a "punch" on the up-beat.

Presto vivace. The sparkling finale in tarantella rhythm has been said to re­semble an opera bufJa overture. Its pace is propulsive, the harmonies whirl, and there are Rossinian crescendoes and unexpected crashes of the whole orchestra.

Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra . Ross LEE FINNEY

One of Minnesota's native sons is Ross Lee Finney, composer-in-residence at the University of Michigan and a widely recognized mentor of the young avante-garde. His Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra was composed in honor of the hundredth anniversary of the founding of his alma mater, Carleton College at Northfield, Minne­sota. The composer himself explains how the work came to be written:

"When I was asked by Carleton College in 1965 to compose an orchestral work for their centennial celebration, I had already just accepted two other commissions that had to be composed at about the same time, a large choral-orchestra work for the ses­quicentennial of the University of Michigan and a percussion work for the Poznan Per­cussion Ensemble to be performed in June, 1965, at the Poznan Fair in Poland. This latter work had to take precedence since its performance date was so soon, but I real­ized as I was composing it in April that I was really doing an exercise for the orchestral work I had promised to write for the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. I called the Poznan piece Three Studies in Fours."

Prefacing the Concerto are meticulous diagrams that explain how the percussion and accompanying instru,ments are to be placed on stage. The four soloists are assigned the following complex of instruments :

Percussion 1: 4 timpani and tube bells.

Percussion 2: marimba, large bass drum, gong, hi hat, 2 plate cymbals and also sus­pended cymbal, alto triangle, large tambourine, large snare drum, glass chimes,S temple blocks and 2 wood blocks.

Percussion 3: xylophone, 4 tom toms, contrabass tam tam, 3 cow bells, soprano tri­angle, alto snare drum, large suspended cymbal and 2 wood blocks.

Percussion 4: vibraphone, glockenspiel, small bass drum, bass tam tam, small snare drum, small tambourine, 3 bongo drums, wood chimes, soprano sus­pended cymbal, sizzle suspended cymbal, large triangle and 2 wood blocks.

Finney once remarked that he never writes a note without first forming his ideas clearly in his mind. The procedures underlying the Concerto for Percussion and Orches­tra are described by the composer:

"In the Concerto, as in Three Studies in Fours, the divisional sections and pro­portions are all established from the basic series. A horizon note permits the formula­tion of one set of numbers, while interval sizes within the series create yet another. These two numerical sets are combined into ratios which generate the temporal divi­sions, tempi and the intervals to be used by the percussion within individual sections. The orchestra is less bound by this procedure, is more melodic and more concerned with spacing, climaxes and color. Thus the orchestra is differentiated from the percussion soloists as is desirable in a concerto."

Symphony No. 10 in E minor. DMITRI SHOSTAKOVITCH

When Shostakovitch commented on this symphony at the Union of Soviet Composers a few months after its premiere, he disappointed the audience with his evasive remarks as to its meaning: "Authors like to say of themselves, 'I tried, I wanted to, etc.' But I think I'll refrain from any such remarks. It would be much more interesting for me to know what the listener thinks and to hear his remarks. One thing I will say: in this composition I wanted to portray human emotions and passions."

Shostakovitch is one of the few giants among modern symphonists, and his works communicate an epic quality and dimension stemming from the Beethoven-Mahler tra­dition. He writes his scores directly for orchestra; the orchestral timbres are intrinsic­ally associated with his original melodic ideas, many of which stride over a broad range. His structures are traditional, and his dissonances and chromaticism are fitted firmly within the realm of tonality.

Moderato. A ponderous six-note motto-theme emerges from the cellos and basses at the beginning, suggesting the breadth and expansiveness to come. Contrasting with this are a lyric strain in the clarinet and a nostalgic waltz theme that dances through the exposition. These ideas contend with each other in the dramatic development and are revived in the condensed recapitulation.

Allegro. The violent scherzo explodes with a burst of energy that never wanes. All its motives contribute to a unified impression of force and destruction.

Allegretto. This reflective movement seems to function as the philosophical core of the symphony, with motivic references to the preceding movements. Its central ideas are a narrative theme, treated contrapuntally, and a noble horn call, expanded in the meditative middle section which Shostakovitch referred to as a nocturne.

Andante .. allegro. After a suspended introduction, through which sounds an exotic, oriental plaint of the oboe, the finale resolves the inner conflicts of the work in music that is by turns joyous and fierce. The motto theme from the opening erupts in the orchestral controversy, and the symphony ends in a triumphant conclusion in E major.

UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY

INTERNATIONAL PRESENTATIONS

All presentations are at 8:30 P.M. unless otherwise noted.

REMAINING PERFORMANCES, Second Semester

in Hill Auditorium

ARTUR RUBINSTEIN, Pianist 2:30, Sunday, March 5 JOSE GRECO DANCE COMPANY Wednesday, March 8 SHIRLEY VERRETT, Mezzo-soprano Monday, March 13 STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY CHORUS Thursday, April 6 BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Saturday, April 8

Tickets: $5 .0~.50-$4.00-$3 .50-$2.50-$1.50

ANN ARBOR MAY FESTIVAL-April 22, 23, 24, 25, 1967 THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA AT ALL CONCERTS

PROGRAMS

SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 8:30 EUGENE ORMANDY, Conductor. GALINA VISHNEVSKAYA, Russia,. soprano, in arias from Eugen Onegin (Tchaikovsky); Katerina Ismailova (Shostakovich); Aida (Verdi); Puccini's Manon Lescaut and La Boheme. "Clock" Symphony (Haydn); and Concerto for Orchestra (Bartok).

SUNDAY, APRIL 23, 2:30 THOR JOHNSON, Conductor. MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH, Cellist, in Dvorak Con­certo. Vivaldi "Magnificat" with University Choral Union. VERONICA TYLER, So­prano; and MILDRED MILLER, Contralto. Also, Choral Union in world premiere of "The Martyr's Elegy" (Finney), with WALDIE ANDERSON, Tenor.

SUKDAY, APRIL 23, 8:30 EUGENE OR MANDY, Conductor. VAN CLIBURN, Pianist, in Brahms Concerto No.2; "Haffner" Symphony (Mozart); New England Triptych (Schuman); Suite No. 2 from "Daphnis and Chloe" (Ravel).

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 8:30 THOR JOHNSON, Conductor. Verdi "Manzoni" Requiem with University Choral Union; GALINA VISHNEVSKAYA, Soprano; MILDRED MILLER, Contralto; GIUSEPPI CAMPORA, T enor; and EZIO FLAGELLO, Bass.

TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 8:30 EUGENE ORMANDY, Conductor. All-Brahms Orchestral concert; "Academic Festival" Overture; Symphony No.1 and Symphony No.3.

Series Tickets: $25.00-$20.00-$16.00-$12.00-$9.00 (now on sale). Single Concerts: $6.00-$5.50-$5.00-$4.00-$3.00-$2.00 (on sale beginning March 1).

FAIR LANE FESTIVAL-June and July, on the Dearborn Campus of the University of Michigan. Ten concerts by Baroque Orchestra of Chicago Symphony; Bath Festival Orchestra' National Festival Orchestra of Stratford; and two Britten operas, "Curlew River" and "Th~ Burning Fiery Furnace." Complete programs and artist listing with ticket prices, available about March 10.

For tickets and information, address

UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY, Burton Tower, Ann Arbor, Michigan